USA #36

[deckerd@agcs.com]

Uncle Scrooge Adventures #36 just came out here, with a
couple of stories I translated from Dutch. Unfortunately,
the issue only demonstrates that computerized type fonts
that look just like hand-lettering also open the door to...
typographical errors. On the last page of the Duncan McDuck
story, Donald's speech in panel 5 is scrambled. My script
had him saying:
"No matter how smart you think you are, there are times when you
should be smart enough to leave things well enough alone!"
As printed, however, Donald is saying:
"No matter how smart you think you are, there aren't enough
times when you should be smart enough to leave things well
enough alone!"
That "there aren't enough times" makes no sense and seems like
a typo.
To which the mayor replies, "Well said! It sounds as though
there may be a wee bit of a politician in you, Mr. Duck!"
Of course it's Mr. Duck. Donald made the speech, right? As
printed, however, it came out as "Mr. McDuck." It may even
be justifiable as an understandable error on the Mayor's part:
the Mayor only knows Donald as a descendant of Duncan McDuck
and a relative of Scrooge McDuck, and might be plausibly
unaware that Donald's last name is a little different. On the
other hand, I would argue that the point is a little too subtle,
and calling Donald by his right name just saves confusion. I
don't see a reason for the change, myself.
The second story (H91134) is a four-page Scrooge & Gyro story
I translated several years ago. In that time, I've lost my
copies of the original script I did (hard-drive problem). All
I can say is that there are a couple of screaming errors of
wording that I _hope_ weren't in my original script. If they
were, I'll own up to 'em and take my lumps, but I still have to
ask the question why the editor didn't catch and correct them
before the story went out the door. "Why don't you make some
yourself" in the last panel makes no sense, for example, when
Gyro is telling Scrooge he should try his hand at making an
invention himself to relax. "Why don't you make -one- yourself"
was clearly meant.
Well, I don't mean to sit here and whine about Gladstone. I
just wanted to express some dismay at how the stories turned out
to an understanding audience, and now I feel better.

Cheers--

--Dwight Decker